2 men found guilty in kidnap plot of Michigan governor

HOUSTON, Texas

Two US men who helped plot the 2020 kidnapping attempt of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were convicted Tuesday for their role in the scheme.

Adam Fox, 39, and Barry Croft Jr., 46, were found guilty by a jury for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, a bomb, which prosecutors said was intended to hinder law enforcement's response to the planned kidnapping at Whitmer's vacation home.

Croft was found guilty of an additional charge of possession of an explosive device.

"They didn’t want to just kidnap (Whitmer)," Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler said in court. "They wanted to execute her."

“You can’t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor and go snatch the governor,” he said.

The two men were members of the Three Percenters militia group, and prosecutors said the pair played a crucial role in the abduction attempt, which they classified as a rallying cry by anti-government extremists.

Prosecutors maintained the plot was aimed at forcing an end to the Democratic governor's mandates to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic.

By kidnapping Whitmer and putting her "on trial," they said the men hoped to push the country into open conflict as a contentious presidential election approached in November 2020.

“They wanted to set off a second American civil war, a second American Revolution, something that they call the boogaloo," said Kessler. "And they wanted to do it for a long time before they settled on Governor Whitmer.”

The verdicts were a much-needed victory for the government and the second trial for Fox and Croft. A jury in April could not reach a verdict for the pair.

The two are among 13 men who were arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Seven are facing charges in state court.

Fox and Croft face the possibility of life in prison.